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This is the UK model with Duo 1.66Ghz 80Gb HDD and 512Mb Ram (upgraded to 1.5Gb)

I also own a S5XP with 2.0Ghz 100MBHDD & 2.0Gb RAM so I can directly compare the two throughout this review. I will also add to it as I discover new things.

Size & build quality
The SZ has a slightly larger footprint than the S5XP but weighs a little less. Given that this is the bottom of the range SZ, I still prefer it to the S5. It really is a stunning laptop. The palm rest is made from brushed aluminium and the rest of the chassis including the lid is made from magnesium alloy. The S5 had an alloy lower chassis but the palm rest and surrounding area is thin plastic which flexes. The build quality of the SZ is fantastic despite various negative comments floating around. The battery wobble issue is still there but this does not concern me at all. I notice that the battery on the SZ series is slightly higher capacity which will help with battery life.

Performance
The core duo really does make a difference. During the setup I updated Norton Antivirus which promptly started virus checking the hard drive. I was able to crack on and check out some stuff on the internet and do an MS Office update at the same time with no lag. Virus checking normally bogs your machine down quite a bit. So far I’ve only had a chance to try 3D Mark 2003 but will try 3D Mark 2005 soon.

SZ1M – 4214
S5XP – 2811

As you can see, the SZ has over a 30% increase in score. This is interesting as the S5 with it’s 2Gb RAM reported 256Mb on the GF 6400 card. The SZ range will not go above 128Mb no matter how much RAM you install. The GF 7400 GPU is obviously a far superior chip.

I am running UT2004 with everything on high at 1280x800 and it’s solid as a rock. The S5 also ran UT2004 well but the settings had to be dropped to medium to maintain good frame rates at the same res.

Update 26/03/06 - Played UT2004 for over 4 hours last night at a LAN party with the SZ on my lap. You would need a trip to the hospital burns unit if you tried this with the S5! The S5 can get really hot of you push it hard but the SZ barely breaks into a sweat.

The Z1 Scores 1841 in 3DMark 2005 with no tweaks or driver updates.

Keyboard
Although larger on the SZ, I think I prefer the keyboard on the S5. The SZ keyboard is a bit flat (similar to the later ZX spectrums) and feels rather dull but I think I’ll get used to it. Key travel is fine despite its flat look. The S5 keyboard feels a little more conventional. I don’t however get any flex which others seem to complain about.

Update 26/03/06 - I'm totally used to the keyboard on the SZ now and it's starting to make the S5 keyboard look a bit flimsy.

Screen
Nothing short of stunning. This has one of the new LED screens which has really even illumination and a far brighter image than the S5. Looking at the two screen side by side there is a distinct difference. The S5 screen is also excellent but has very uneven illumination and looks muted compared with the SZ.The LED screen will also be a strong contributor to the SZs high battery life compared to the S5.

Battery Life
I’ve not had a chance to check battery life on the SZ yet but I’ll update this shortly. I can however confirm that the S5 got about 2hrs 40mins wireless surfing. I notice that the battery on the SZ series is slightly higher capacity which will help with battery life.

Update 26/03/06 - On Stamina Mode (disables the GF7400 Graphics) I got just over 4 hours wireless surfing with the screen set quite bright. A few more charges will probably see this figure increase quite a bit.

Memory upgrading
The other good point with the SZ series is that you also have easy access to the original memory module which sits next to the spare slot. On the S5, the existing memory is hidden somewhere within the unit so if you have a 512Mb model, you could only increase to 1.5GB. I will shortly replace the original module on the SZ with another 1Gb to give me 2Gb .

If anyone wants to know anything in particular, let me know via this thread.

I will update regularly.

wht r u gng 2 do w. the s series?

Nice Like sony s series a lot and the new sz too Wonder how much can u o/c your go7400 .... its almost a x700

I'm keeping both. I'll use the SZ for work & travelling and leave the S5XP at home so my wife can still surf etc.

I've had the SZ a few days now & the more I use it the more I like it. If anyone is considering buying one of these, you will not be disappointed.

Hadn't planned on clocking the graphics as they are fast enough for the games I play (mainly UT2004 & HL2). The GF7400 chip is no where near as fast as the X700 though. The GF7400 only has 32Mb dedicated RAM - the rest is shared via turbocache technology. The X700 also has way more pipelines etc. Having said that, the GF7400 is probably about as quick as you could expect in a lappy of this size due to potential heat issues.

I have hit 550 core and 790 mem and have no stability or heat issues. Durring a game the 7400 have gone as high as 55 celcius. One nice factor of the nes SZ is the gpu is on a sepperrate heat pipe and heat synch then the cpu is so they cannot affect each other. They do use the same fan though. Overall I find it quite a bit faster then my old S460 but quite a bit slower then my Alienware with a 6600go. So I realy don't know what to make of this new 7400. Good thing I bought it more for a buisness and travel notebook then a gaming one.

Have you looked at doing a hard drive upgrade? I want to put the 100GB 7200rpm Hitachi SATA Travelstar in my 120B. I haven't been able to find instructions on how to do it and Sony Support was, of course, no help at all. Thanks.

Are you sure it has an LED sreen? The VGN-SZ1M in Germany has a regular screen. Only the VGN-SZ1XP has an LED screen an uneven illumination because of that.

Just got one of these v. pleased. However the noise level of the DVD drive is very high, is this the same for you? (Just want to know in-case its a technical fault). Cheers.

While the GFG7400 is a "thin and light" catagory GPU, on the SZ series it has 128mb dedicated memory and can use up to an additional 128 mb shared for a total of 256mb.